A Death in Belmont

A Death in Belmont Sebastian Junger

“The predatory serial murder that lacks a component of sex – or more specifically, sexual sadism – has not yet been committed.” Nonsense. What about the DC snipers, or Harold Shipman? This isn’t even good journalism. Sebastian Junger’s foray into true crime has a personal connection – when the murder in Belmont took place, Albert “The Boston Strangler” DeSalvo was working as a handyman fixing up the Junger family home – but not much else going for it. The courtroom coverage is as dull as usual (the availability of full trial transcripts has, I think, been the ruin of many a true crime book), and the question of the killer’s identity is finally left up for grabs, leaving the reader with a “just suppose” story. After giving the language a metaphor for all seasons in The Perfect Storm, it’s starting to seem as though Junger has shot his bolt.